DC / AC
Time for the new puzzler. This one is a long one, so grab your coffee and pay attention if you're going to play along.
Okay, no cheating on this one. No googling the answer or anything like that. Honest answers only.
So, here it is.
Every school kid knows that in the 1800s sometime, Thomas Edison invented the first practical usable electric light bulb. There were other light bulbs that worked for like 15 seconds or so at that time, but Edison invented the first practical, long-lasting light bulb. And he immediately thought he was going to light up the world. And of course, if you have light bulbs, you need generators to make enough electricity to light up the light bulbs, otherwise, they don't work too good. So Edison had a healthy interest in the generator business.
So, Edison does a little demonstration. He lights up part of New York City to show how wonderful electric lights are. He does this by supplying DC electricity. DC stands for direct current. This is the type of electricity that comes out of flashlight batteries and out of your car battery. But there was an obvious problem with DC and that was, it doesn't transmit very well. If you try to make the stuff travel through wires over long distances, there's a big voltage drop. And the problem is, if you don't want a voltage drop, you'd need huge wires. And wires this big are dangerous. So the only other option was the put a generator in everyone's backyard. And that isn't a great option either.
Well, along comes the concept of AC, or alternating current. AC seems to be a pretty good alternative because they can jack the voltage up with transformers to 30 or 40,000 volts and pump it through skinny little wires. And then when it gets to its destination, they reduce the voltage on the line and then pump 120 volts in your house. And then AC doesn't have these transmission problems like DC would have. This way, you don't need a generator in everyone's backyard.
And obviously, Edison is opposed to this. In spite of the obvious superiority of the AC current, he is against it. Edison does all these public demonstrations about why AC is so dangerous. And because of this, AC does not catch on. Edison is winning this battle.
His biggest opponent in this battle is George Westinghouse. So Edison is the proponent of DC. And Westinghouse is fighting for AC. And Westinghouse is losing the battle even though AC is clearly better.
Then, something happens in 1888 that allows Westinghouse to win the battle. An invention came on the scene in 1888 that helped Westinghouse win. And without this invention, we might all be running on DC today.
So, the year 1888 is your hint. Something very important to this battle was invented in 1888. So if you're going to cheat and google this, use the year... lol.
Good luck!
